Review by Booklist Review
K-Gr. 2. Pablo the elephant has a painting due at his art club but is sadly uninspired. Heading into the country to tackle a landscape, he paints an oak tree on a grassy field, and, sleepy, lies down for a nap. While he's snoozing, a sheep comes along and paints more delicious-looking grass, a squirrel adds a few nuts to the tree, some bees add flowers, and a passing wolf paints the woodland creatures in front of the tree. In an amusing twist, the elephant wakes up to an unadorned canvas--he's been dreaming! But now he knows exactly what to paint. Pablo's bucolic masterpiece ends up as the star of the art club exhibition. (And who's at the opening? The woodland creatures from his dream.) Kitamura exhibits a wonderful, distinctive use of line and color in his cartoonlike, stylized artwork. Hilarious visual details and comical touches abound in this clever story that playfully flips reality. --Karin Snelson Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Pablo, an elephant in a pale yellow suit and brown fedora, bears little stylistic resemblance to his Spanish namesake. He belongs to the pedestrian Hoof Lane Art Club, a suburban salon whose most daring member is a zebra with a passion for parallel lines. When Pablo suffers "artist's block," he strolls to a verdant field, paints a drab picture of a tree and takes a nap. While he sleeps, passing animals rate his handiwork (a thin ink frame around each page subtly suggests a fantasy suspension of Pablo's humdrum reality). The watery grass "looks completely tasteless!" to a sheep, who tints it "a delicious bright green." "No nuts! I see no nuts!" chatters a squirrel, who hops on the sheep's back to paint dots in the branches. The animals depart just as Pablo awakens and exclaims, "What a strange dream.... Now I know exactly what to do!," and gets back to work. The finished canvas goes unseen until the last moment, when Pablo displays it at an exhibition; readers will smile at his secret helpers, silently joining the gallery throng. As in Igor, the Bird Who Couldn't Sing, Kitamura imagines a character overcoming creative limitations, and his droll double-entendre clarifies what happened: "For Pablo it was a dream come true." Kitamura illustrates in his signature choppy, shaky ink lines and saturated colors. Thanks to Pablo's furred and feathered critics, readers notice what an unobservant painter might neglect when crafting a natural landscape. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-The Hoof Lane Art Club is preparing for an exhibition of their work, and it is Pablo the elephant's dream to participate, but he is suffering from artist's block. After trying his hand at every sort of painting from still life to abstract, he heads for an empty field to attempt a landscape. He paints a simple tree, eats lunch, and falls asleep. In his dream, Pablo is visited by various animals, each with a perspective that improves his painting. When he wakes up, he creates a masterpiece. The story lacks the humor of Kitamura's previous books and is disappointing. However, the illustrations are strong and the expressiveness of the characters lends much to the telling. Pablo is an earnest fellow, and the fact that he can still paint with his trunk while his hands are shoved in his pockets in frustration is a visual device used to great effect. The message that art is not created in a void might be missed by younger readers. However, the book offers a good platform from which to question children about where our ideas and inspirations come from, and as such would be suitable for storytime or classroom reading.-Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hoping to paint an exhibition-worthy picture, Pablo takes his easel outdoors, where, feeling uncertain of his work so far, he stops painting and takes a nap. Meanwhile, woodland creatures add their own interpretive touches to the canvas, giving Pablo the push he needs to realize his dreams of artistic greatness. Drolly expressive illustrations add humor to this tale of artistic inspiration. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Members of the Hoof Lane Art Club are excited about the exhibition of their work, except for Pablo, the elephant. His canvas is blank--artist's block. At the suggestion of his fellow animal painters, he finds a beautiful view and begins a landscape. While he's sleeping after a lunch break, a sheep, squirrel, bird, wild boar, swarm of bees and a wolf each take up Pablo's brushes and add what they think is missing from his painting (e.g. the squirrel adds nuts). When Pablo wakes up and looks at his canvas, he smilingly adds one finishing touch. Needless to say, his painting is the star of the show, as it captures the entire scene of the wolf painting the woodland creatures in a group shot. Kitamura's familiar cartoon style and wry humor pair perfectly in this original take on artist's block. Pablo is dressed in a suit, necktie, hat and spectacles and naturally paints with his trunk. The other characters appropriately use hoof, paw, beak, etc. The message is underplayed while the comic details colorfully add to the appeal. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
